and at schools. > Post Heads Up web buttons and banners on your website linking to CDC's Heads Up online trainings fo
Heads Up Game Plan Sports are a great way for kids and teens to stay active, as well as to learn important leadership and team-building skills. Coaches, parents, athletic trainers, school and health care professionals, young athletes, and community members can all help athletes stay active and healthy by knowing how to prevent, recognize, and respond to a concussion. The Heads Up Game Plan is designed to help you plan activities using CDC’s Heads Up series to protect young athletes in your community from concussion.
Fast Facts * A concussion is a brain injury caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or blow to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth. * All concussions are serious. * Most concussions occur without loss of consciousness. * Recognition and proper response to a concussion when it first occurs can help prevent further injury or even death. * Concussions can occur in any sport or recreation activity (as well as outside of sports such as from a fall, motor vehicle crash, etc.)
*Learn more about concussion at: www.cdc.gov/Concussion
Whether you are just getting started, or are looking for new ideas for your existing concussion-awareness program, CDC’s Heads Up has an array of resources available to you at no cost and in multiple formats. These resources can easily be integrated into your existing programs and distribution channels, and range from small activities to larger-scale efforts to engage coaches, parents, athletes, schools, and community stakeholders. You do not need to complete the activities in any specific order—choose activities that are a good fit for your community’s needs and what is feasible for you to implement. Go at your own pace, and get creative in adapting activities to make them your own! Whether large or small, you can make a huge difference in educating your community about concussion and keeping your young athletes safe.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
CDC can also help you send these materials out at no cost. See the last section of the Game Plan for the website and a list of Heads Up initiative resources that you can download and/or order. Together, we can help athletes stay active and healthy by knowing the facts about concussion, and when it is safe for athletes to return to school and play.
Get Started Send out Heads Up materials to leagues and schools in your area. Distribute concussion resources at community events, trainings for coaches and health care professionals, and sports and recreation areas. Include Heads Up resources in youth league, summer camp, and school sports registration packets, including CDC’s concussion parent/athlete information sheet that can be signed by both parents and athletes before the first practice. Hang Heads Up posters at sports and recreation facilities in your community and at schools. Post Heads Up web buttons and banners on your website linking to CDC’s Heads Up online trainings for coaches, and online training for health care professionals, as well as to other free resources. Learn about your state, league, or sports governing body’s laws or policies on concussion and use Heads Up materials to help support implementation of these policies. Connect with CDC Heads Up on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cdcheadsup, and post the Heads Up Facebook widget to connect directly from your website. Send educational messages on concussion safety though other social-media channels. Include concussion education messages—and links to resources—in your team, school, or community newsletter/e-Newsletter and publications.
Download or order the NFL/CDC and NCAA/CDC Heads Up materials for athletes at www.cdc.gov/Concussion.
Build Momentum Work with CDC to create a Heads Up campaign in your community. Partner with professional teams, schools and colleges, and youth leagues to host educational trainings on concussion for parents, coaches, and athletes. Create a Heads Up game night and distribute free concussion resources to attendees. Host a Heads Up logo-design contest or a short video contest to give kids and teens the opportunity to educate other young athletes about this issue. Winners could be displayed/aired at the Heads Up game night.
Reach the Media Partner with local online, print, radio, and TV journalists and producers (especially sports reporters and anchors) to air a Heads Up PSA on concussion. You can also work with them to create customized educational PSAs. Establish and educate media contacts, and work with them to include concussion prevention and safety tips in community media outlets and at media events.
Heads Up Resources and Initiatives Download and order all Heads Up materials for coaches, athletes, parents, school and health care professionals, and others at no cost (many materials are available in Spanish too!), at: www.cdc.gov/Concussion. There you will find: Lists of concussion signs, symptoms, and danger signs What to do if a concussion is suspected and the Heads Up Concussion Action Plan Clinical diagnosis and management information Prevention tips Steps to help with recovery Stories of real athletes with concussion You can also: Take an online training for coaches or for health care professionals Print, download, or order materials in bulk, including: • Fact sheets • A clipboard and clipboard stickers • Magnets and posters • Sports-specific resources Watch videos Listen to podcasts and radio PSAs Send an e-card Download and share PowerPoint slides, statistics, and graphics And more!
Heads Up educational resources (available at no cost) align with components in many concussion in sports laws and policies, including: • Online course for youth coaches and parents. In less than 30 minutes coaches and parents can learn about identifying a suspected concussion and how to respond. After completing the training and quiz, coaches and parents can print out a certificate, making it easy to show their league or school they are ready for the season. (CDC also partnered with the National Federation of State High School Associations on an online training for high school coaches.) • Parent/Athlete information sheet with signature lines that can be ordered or downloaded and distributed during registration or prior to the first practice. • Online course for health care professionals (developed with support from the NFL and CDC Foundation) on concussion in sports diagnosis and return to school and play management. This one-hour course provides an overview of what health care professionals need to know about concussion in sports and includes a no cost continuing education opportunity through the American College of Sports Medicine.
All are available at www.cdc.gov/Concussion.
Below is a list of Heads Up initiatives: Heads Up: Concussion in High School Sports Materials for high school coaches, athletic directors, athletic trainers, parents, and athletes.
Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports Materials for coaches, league directors, athletic trainers, parents, and athletes of youth sports.
Heads Up to Schools: Know Your Concussion ABCs Materials for school nurses, teachers, administrators, and other school professionals (K-12).
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Be alert for signs and symptoms
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Heads Up to Clinicians Assess the situation
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Heads Up to Clinicians:
Updated Mild Traum Brain Injury Guidel
Assessment and management tools, patient education materials, and clinical guidelines for health care professionals working in the primary care and emergency care setting.
To order bulk quantities of CDC resources—or to discuss potential partnership opportunities on concussion education and outreach— contact CDC by email at
[email protected] or toll-free at 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636).
Thank you for your support in helping put concussion-education materials into the hands of school and health care professionals, parents, coaches, and athletes nationwide!
